TuRLK1, a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase, is indispensable for stripe rust resistance of YrU1 and confers broad resistance to multiple pathogens

• Published in: BMC plant biology 2022-06, Vol.22 (1), p.280-280, Article 280
• Main Authors: Zou, Shenghao, Tang, Yansheng, Xu, Yang, Ji, Jiahao, Lu, Yuanyuan, Wang, Huanming, Li, Qianqian, Tang, Dingzhong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Airborne microorganisms; Amino acids; Analysis; Ankyrins; Apoptosis; Bacterial infections; Binding sites; Bread; Care and treatment; Cell death; Cloning; Control; Disease; Disease resistance; Diseases and pests; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Fungi; Gene silencing; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genetic engineering; Genomes; Growth; Immune response; Immune system; Infections; Inoculation; Kinases; Leucine; Localization; Methods; Mildew; Nlr protein; Nucleotides; Pathogens; Plant immunity; Powdery mildew; Prevention; Proteins; Receptors; Risk factors; Rust diseases; Stripe rust; Triticum urartu; TuRLK1; Viruses; Wheat; YrU1
• ISSN: 1471-2229; 1471-2229
• DOI: 10.1186/s12870-022-03679-6

YrU1 is a nucleotide-binding site (NBS) and leucine-rich repeat (LRR) protein (NLR), with additional ankyrin-repeat and WRKY domains and confers effective resistance to stripe rust fungus Puccinia striiformis f. sp. Tritici (Pst). YrU1 was positionally cloned in the progenitor species of the A genome of bread wheat, Tricicum urartu, recently. However, the molecular mechanism and components involved in YrU1-mediated resistance are not clear. In this study, we found that the transcript level of TuRLK1, which encodes a novel leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase, was up-regulated after inoculation with Pst in the presence of YrU1, through RNA-seq analysis in T. urartu accession PI428309. TuRLK1 contained only a small number of LRR motifs, and was localized in the plasma-membrane. Transient expression of TuRLK1 induced hypersensitive cell death response in N. benthamiana leaves. Silencing of TuRLK1, using barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV)-induced gene silencing (VIGS) system in PI428309 that contains YrU1, compromised the resistance against stripe rust caused by Pst CY33, indicating that TuRLK1 was required for YrU1-activated plant immunity. Furthermore, overexpression of TuRLK1 could enhance powdery mildew resistance in bread wheat and Arabidopsis thaliana after inoculating with the corresponding pathogens. Our study indicates that TuRLK1 is required for immune response mediated by the unique NLR protein YrU1, and likely plays an important role in disease resistance to other pathogens.